Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I am not, and have never been, a member of any Pentecostal church (such as those that arose from the Azusa Street revival that occurred in Los Angeles in the early part of the twentieth century). However, my understanding is that the tenets of this revival focused on a person's ability to speak in tongues -- including not only speech that was in a recognizable earthly language (as was the case with the apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2:4-12), but also speech in a language that was different from any earthly language, and that required special interpretation to be understood -- as an essential sign or proof that a person had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

While I personally do not dispute the ability of the Holy Spirit to impart such speech as one of the nine spiritual gifts that Paul enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, it would not be biblical (in my opinion) to regard that specific gift as a necessary, required, or indispensable sign or proof of the Spirit's presence in an individual. (As Paul also said later in that same epistle (1 Corinthians 14:18-19): "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.") 

Instead, it is the presence of the fruits of the Spirit (as enumerated by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23) -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control -- in a person's life and conduct that testify to the Spirit's indwelling.

April 06 2020 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report